Vardura Kingdom
The Vardura Kingdom, also known as the Ziphyon Kingdom, is, as it name suggest, located in Vardura on the continent Eidyn. About 68% of its population consists of Ziphyo, a semi-aquatic species, while the other 32% consists of Humans living near the coasts whom agreed to serve the king or queen of the Vardura Kingdom. The Ziphyo are known for their secrecy about their aquatic cities of which only tales and rumors exist. The Kingdom is divided into three city-states, of which two have to answer to the Ziphyo king. Loyal subjects to the throne, given they descend from a noble family, are placed as rulers of those cities. City-states *Coralia - The capital of the Kingdom, it is the only known Ziphyo city and is the location where the king resides. Its area of influence spans over the entire western region of the kingdom and most likely even further than the Ziphyo claim it to be. *Caên Ivhaz - The Northern city, it rules over the lake known as Seretha and the northern regions. This regions is more densely populated but poorer than the southern regions, much of the population here are farmers, hunters, fisherman, carpenters and sailors. *Caên Nomdhly - The Southern city, it rules over the lake known as Uvalia and the southern regions. The subjects of Caên Nomdhly can mine the riches from the northern side of the mountain range, which borders against Atalante, and has provided them with much needed ores. Cities *Cities under the rule of the city-state Coralia: **Unknown *Cities under the rule of the city-state Caên Ivhaz: **Corwyn: Corwyn is a coastal city located in the most nothern reaches of Vardura. **Valvale: Valvale is a relative large city known for its artists and writers. It is the site for many stories. **Lith: Lith is a small reinforced city **Ryheal: Ruheal is a city located near the riverdelta. **Shievan: Shievan is a city that stands on both regions but was founded in the north. *Cities under the rule of the city-state Caên Nomdhly: **Newcoast: Newcoast is a coastal city in which the Tower of Lumination stands erect. **Byburn: Byburn is a small city on the eastern reaches of the land. **Burn Amaraut: Burn Amaraut, or Noavénhe, is a mining town on the borders of the kingdom. **Sindo: Sindo is a large city in the southern regions of the land. Much of the Kingdom's troops are trained in the vincinity of the city due to its rough terrain. During the invasion of Oulobann Sindo held for two and a half weeks before finally falling for the enemy's might. Many perished due to natural manholes. **New Sindo: New Sindo is a fortress city that lies more southern than Sindo, it was meant to provide home to the soldiers who protect the pass to reach the lands of Atalante. Culture Holidays *Starfest: At the beginning and end of each year the people of Vardura celebrate Starfest when they gaze at the skies and remember their lost and loved ones. *Herinné di Garador:Herinné di Garador is the day when Vardura remembers both the birth and death of the Dragon Garador who served as the guardian for the lake Seretha. Government The Vardura Kingdom is an elective monarchy, when the king dies a new monarch is chosen. While there is a large chance one of the sons or daughters of the former king are elected it is not uncommon to suddenly have a total new royal family. Military The Varduran military consist mostly of mercenary armies paid with the riches the city-states can gather, during times of war when a city-state does not have enough money they are given a loan by the king. This loan is repaid over a large amount of years to ensure the city-state does not suffer economically. While the Ziphyo can not stay on land for too long they are more than capable of providing weapons and armor to their human subjects. The Varduran kingdom has a small navy, mostly consisting of converted merchant and sailor ships with only a handfull or real warships. Despite this the Ziphyo are the real warriors used on sea, they make used of ferocious animals that can attack ships head on or secrelty pierce hulls to sink them. The Ziphyo have also begun to train krakens for naval warfare, but most of the trained creatures can not be controlled for long due to their increasing size. However, ever since the rising threat of foreign infiltration to find weak spots and stir unrest and revolution in the land an organization was set up. It became known as the Black Coats which was still not finished after three years of preparing everything from picking personnel to selecting locations. Now, the Black Coats are part of Varduran society and a common sight. Population As mentioned before, the kingdom has 59 million subjects of which a 68% are Ziphyo. This makes it a total of 40.120.000 Ziphyon inhabitants against a total of 18.880.000 Human inhabitants. While the Humans see the Ziphyo as their caretakers, most Ziphyo see the Human subjects as second-class citizens or in some cases, vermin. This had led to a chasm between the Ziphyo population, the side who doesn't mind meeting Humans live more closely to the coasts where they trade and live with Humans, whilst the other side lives in the deeper regions of Coralia. Religion Many of the Human population do not have a religion, the others mostly adapted those of other cultures and civilizations. The Ziphyo on the other hand are devout to their god, K'tuac (Ke-Tu-Ac), whom they see as the first aquatic life. They believe that their god was once lord over everything that existed as he was free to roam wherever he went, flooding eveything by doing so. But at an unfortunate moment he went to sleep causing the sea-level to drop and creating Eidyn as it is known. Many of its followers believe that one day he will reawakan and rise from the depths to reclaim his reign. Technology Ziphyo smiths and mages have created an ore that is slightly weaker than mithril but stronger than steel and does not corrode in water. They made this to have an armor that protects them against dangerous aquatic predators and does not require occasional maintenance. This ore is highly valuable for other civilizations and is often traded at a relatively fair price. History The Vardura Kingdom started small as the Ziphyo Kingdom during the third century (the year 243 to be precisely). At this time the Ziphyo began gathering near an underwater mountain called Gethuria, on which the capitol Coralia has been built. They were united under the banner of their first king, Merdhay Ivenf. They were left alone by other civilizations for a long time as most did not know of their existance, those who actually did manage to spot a Ziphyo mistook them for Mermaids. This allowed them to strengthen their own land and resolve internal strife as was the case with the Coral Field Revolution. Coral Field Revolution The Coral Field Revolution, or 'Dregh Vheli Ralmeton' in the native Ziphyo tongue, was a bloody and long lasting conflict in Ziphyo history; it is even considered to be worse than the war against Imperial Oulobann several centuries later. The problems started with rising tension in 317 between king Merhay Ivenf, who was nearing the end of his life due to age, and his grandson, Solvze Ivenf. Solvze did not want to wait for the time when he would finally ascend to the throne, he wanted the power immediatly. Knowing that he could never gather enough support he decided to declare himself king of a new Ziphyo nation which he called the Vrelighen Kingdom. This kingdom was centralised around the Coral Fields several miles away from the city Coralia. King Merhay saw this as a great insult due to the holiness of the location (during that time they believed to be born from coral, thus they tended it and helped it to grow). He sent spies to know if his grandson was desecrating the fields, a fear which had turned into a reality. Solvze tried to look like a victim and forced Merhay to attack him, an action that allowed him to gather more support. Solvze was succesfull and gathered a considerable amount of supporters when Merhay attacked. This allowed Solvze to react with a deadly invasion, justifying his actions by claiming he is the victim. While Merhay still had a much greater army, his forces were scattered and it would take too much time for all of them to reach Coralia in time before Solvze attacks. Merhay did the unexpected, he rode out to attack Solvze head-on. He told his son, Levru Ivenf (the father of Solvze) to become a better king than he was, to not make the same mistakes. He and the troops he was able to muster fought near the algea farms about three miles from Coralia. The battle was fought for almost 7 days before king Merhay was slain and his army decimated. Survivors retreated to Coralia to warn the new king, Levru, of Merhay's demise and Solvze's victory. Solvze believed that he had won the throne by killing the former king and rushed to Coralia with a mostly exhausted and wounded army. When they reached the city at last they were attacked by Levru's army, many troops had arrived since the departure of king Merhay and all of them longed for revenge for their fallen king. Solvze's army was defeated in 3 days, desperatly fighting a battle they knew they woud lose. Solvze committed his last troops in an attempt to escape the battle and succeeded, he fled for unknown regions to return again several decades later. Levru and his army celebrated their victory but rode out to retrieve their fallen brethren from the battle near the algea farms. Their fallen king was found, wrapped in rags and left in a crevice after a ceremony. Thus ended the Coral Field Revolution, with the first king's death and the instigator still alive. Founding of Vardura Several centuries later, the Ziphyo had settled a large portion near Coralia and the nearby habitable regions. For the last few decades the bravest Ziphyo occasionaly swam to the surface and saw the land Vardura. When they saw that intelligent life lived on there and reported it to their king, they were tasked with understanding and speaking their language, a task that took another 17 years. However, the Ziphyo were able to speak and comprehend the language of the men of Vardura. This enabled them to negotiate deals, such as trades, an alliance and eventually even the loyalty of the port cities. With the wealth the Ziphyo had amassed they hired mercenaries for the port cities for their safety, through diplomatic means they were able to add more and more cities to their kingdom. After about a century of negotiations later the Vardura Kingdom was finally founded, it consisted of all Vardurian land and the kingdom of the Ziphyo. Just as the Ziphyo did with their own cities, they tried to strengthen the newly found kingdom's borders and make the cities richer. While the men of Vardura were more concentrated and had a different mentality than the Ziphyo, problems quickly rose. The Ziphyo were confronted with serious crime, fatigue and long lasting feuds, tasks that required much attention and required all their attention which caused them to drop their plan. It took them many years before finally being able to put a halt to the feuds, lessen the crime and bring in enough food. When they were finally able to concentrate on their plans they came to be under attack by Imperial Oulobann. Oulobanno Conquista The Vardura Kingdom did not have anything resembling an army, the mercenaries fled at the mere sight of the Oulobann armies and much of the kingdom was taken in only a matter of months. It was Caên Ivhaz that was able to stand up to the Oulobann armies, being able to keep them at bay while being provided food and weapons by the Ziphyo. The only battles fought by the Ziphyo were maritime, though there have been accounts of skirmishes when Oulobann soldiers tried to cross rivers in which the Ziphyo were awaiting them. Oulobann ships that tried to bring in reinforcements by dropping their troops behind the lines of Caên Ivhaz were discovered by the Ziphyo, they responded by attacking their ships. Many ships were sunk but the attacking Ziphyo were forced to retreat when the Oulobann soldiers dropped poison in the water, causing many to die. The northern region of Vardura was completally conquered aside from Caên Ivhaz which remained a thorn in the eye for Oulobann for the remainder of the Conquista. Once the Oulobann generals realised that the defenders were too well dug in they ceased the attacks but kept an army ready in-case the tide would change. Despite the halt of the attacks the troops from Caên Ivhaz were too few to reclaim any lost territory. While at that time unknown, reports began coming in of Oulobann soldiers retreating back to their own lands, the Ziphyo and Caên Ivhaz saw their opportunity and gathered an army consisting of spare troops to reclaim Varduran land and cities. They discovered that the only Oulobann troops left in the cities were convicts promised to regain their freedom if they fought the Ziphyo- and Caên Ivhaz forces. It was only after a decade that the Vardura Kingdom discovered why the Oulobann forces had retreated, their homelands were under siege. Thus the war with Oulobann ended. Kendros Infection The Kendros Infection was a time when an infectious parasite terrorized the Human population of Caên Ivhaz, the parasite latched itself on the skin and spread all over the body to eventually control its host. While some now regard it as a symbiont as it supplied its host with nutrients it absorbed through the help of photosynthesis and only took water from its host which could quickly replenish itself due to the presence of the lakes. It was finally solved when the Ziphyo began fearing infection as small spores drifted to the ocean through the lakes, when they found out that salt water could kill the parasite they lured many Humans to the coast, unfortunalty many Humans, who were further away from the coast, had to be killed. Leviathan Awakening The Leviathan Awakening is a time of war which is still pending, it started with the awakening of a large aquatic creature called the Leviathan. This gigantic eel-like monstrosity has destroyed many settlements of the Ziphyo but is always pushed back. The Ziphyo king has ordered his armies to assemble and fight the beast. Many Ziphyo regard to this creature as K'tuac. Category:Civilizations Category:Vardura